Marcus Mariota is Oregon's New QB

Marcus Mariota is Oregon's New QB

Oregon has a rich history of talented quarterbacks, dating all the way back to Norm Van Brocklin in the 40s. Dan Fouts starred in the 70s, Akili Smith in the late 90s, Joey Harrington at the turn of the century, Dennis Dixon was a legend in Eugene in the 00s, and most recently Darron Thomas guided the Ducks to a title game and a Rose Bowl (then, inexplicably, left school early, but didn’t get drafted).

This could spark some transfer chatter about backup Bryan Bennett, a 3rd year sophomore who played last year a bit, and looked quite good.

Mariota will have a month of practice – Arkansas State, Fresno State and Tennessee Tech will all be 40+ point wins by the Ducks – before his first real test at Mike Leach and Washington State at the end of September. The USC game isn’t until November 3rd.